• Ballaké Sissoko & Derek Gripper / Maryna Krut

    The Arts Center @ NYUAD NYUAD Campus, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    A really interesting evening of contrasting but complementary music by performers who are all making their UAE debuts. Ballaké Sissoko & Derek Gripper Malian virtuoso Ballaké Sissoko has taken over the mantle of greatest living kora master, with an ability [ ... ]

    AED 105
  • Politically Incorrect Comedy

    Xandros Singature 1 Hotel, Barsha Heights, Dubai

    MadCat Comedy returns to Xandros in Signature 1 Hotel, TECOM. The cover charge of AED 80 includes one drink.

    AED 80
  • The Laughter Factory Premium Comedy Club

    Radisson DAMAC Hills Hessa Street Dubailand, Dubai

    The November Laughter Factory tour. The acts: Tom Elwes Sold out his Edinburgh Fringe show: expect high-energy storytelling and razor-sharp wit Kate Barron One of the funniest things to come out of Canada (possibly) ever. "Fierce, unfiltered, and hilariously relatable" [ ... ]

    AED 160
  • Manar Abu Dhabi 2025

    [various Abu Dhabi locations] Abu Dhabi

    Manar Abu Dhabi returns for its second edition with the theme The Light Compass, presenting 19 newly commissioned light-based artworks by Emirati and international artists – including some very big names: Abdulla Almulla (UAE) Ammar Al Attar (UAE) Christian Brinkmann [ ... ]

    Free
  • Tor Seidel: Riposte

    XVA Gallery Al Fahidi Historical Neighborhood, Bur Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Tor Siedel explores how ‘vandalism’ by environmental activists in triptychs that consider whether these attacks can also be considered performative acts of art. He focuses on the protagonists' actionism, the shock or entertainment value for visitors, and the professional dissemination [ ... ]

    Free
  • Aliyah Alawadhi: Girl Parts

    Bayt AlMamzar House 2, 26 Street, Al Mamzar, Dubai

    "Childhood is a half-remembered taste: sweet, sticky, and sometimes spoiled." In Girl Parts, her first solo exhibition, Aliyah Alawadhi expresses this residue in paint – bodies shimmering in pinks and creams, mouths agape, devouring and dreaming. Says the gallery: "These [ ... ]

    Free
  • Joke Hub

    Canopy by Hilton Dubai Al Seef Al Seef Street, Umm Hurair 1, Dubai

    A regular MadCat Comedy night – "Dubai's wildest comedy show on Saturday" (sic). The cover charge of AED 99 includes two F&B coupons.

    AED 99
  • The Laughter Factory Premium Comedy Club

    Dukes The Palm Palm Dubai, Dubai

    The final gig for the November Laughter Factory tour. The acts: Tom Elwes Sold out his Edinburgh Fringe show: expect high-energy storytelling and razor-sharp wit Kate Barron One of the funniest things to come out of Canada (possibly) ever. "Fierce, [ ... ]

    AED 160
  • Salma Dib: Marks of Return

    Aisha Alabbar Gallery Warehouse C19, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    Drawing from the charged visual language of street walls in Palestine in this, her first solo exhibition in the UAE, Salma Dib transforms those surfaces of resistance into layered compositions that speak of loss, resilience, and collective memory. Her works [ ... ]

    Free
  • Gil Heitor Cortesão: All That Is Solid

    CARBON 12 17th Street, Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Gil Heitor Cortesão's fifth solo show at CARBON 12 (it is also the gallery's 100th exhibition) presents a suite of large and small works extending his investigation into the fragile perceptive systems and architectures of modernity. Working with oils on [ ... ]

    Free
  • Ali Kaaf: The Fire’s Edge 

    Ayyam Gallery B11, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Ali Kaaf’s first solo exhibition at Ayyam Gallery features his seminal body of work, the Rift series, alongside selected works from his Helmet and Ras Ras series. The Fire’s Edge evokes the fragile threshold where ancestral practices meet modern erasure [ ... ]

    Free
  • Mohammed Joha: Houselessness

    Zawyeh Gallery Warehouse 27, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    In his latest work, Palestinian artist Mohammed Joha redefines collage as "an architecture of rupture and reassembly, both a method and a metaphor". His works bring together scraps of fabric, paper, cardboard, plastic and other salvaged materials, textures pulled from [ ... ]

    Free
  • Ali Kaaf: The Fire’s Edge

    Ayyam Gallery B11, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    The artist’s first solo show at Ayyam Gallery features Kaaf’s seminal body of work from his Rift, Helmet and Ras Ras series. The Fire’s Edge evokes the fragile threshold where ancestral practices meet modern erasure, the line between scorched earth [ ... ]

    Free
  • Kamrooz Aram: Domestic Compositions

    Green Art Gallery Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    A solo exhibition by Kamrooz Aram. The artist’s practice integrates sculpture, painting, and architecture, creating a context for viewing cultural artefacts in a way that brings them back into the present. At the centre of five collages, for instance, is [ ... ]

    Free
  • By the Movement of All Things

    Lawrie Shabibi Unit 21, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    A group exhibition curated by Hamzeh Alfarahneh of South African curatorial firm Art(Advisory) and featuring works by Hamra Abbas (Pakistan), Diana Al-Hadid (Syria-USA), Timo Nasseri (Iran-Germany), and four South Africans – Igshaan Adams, Moshekwa Langa, James Webb, and Bronwyn Katz. [ ... ]

    Free
  • Fereydoun Ave, Raana Farnoud, Shaqayeq Arabi: IMPROVISATIONS

    Gallery Isabelle Unit 17, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    The artists in this group show have distinct visual languages that do find commonalities: they "transform the familiar through acts of care, attention, and intuitive play ... a shared attentiveness to what is provisional, such as a line that wavers, [ ... ]

    Free
  • Miramar Al Nayyar: Hujra

    Tabari Artspace Alserkal Avenue Warehouse 81, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    Tabari Artspace's first exhibition at its new Alserkal Avenue location is a solo show for Miramar Al Nayyar, curated by Abeer Seikaly. In Hujra, Al Nayyar "traces how flow crystallises onto canvas, how light becomes matter, and how painting absorbs [ ... ]

    Free
  • Devadeep Gupta: We Must Therefore Turn Our Attention Skywards

    Warehouse 46 Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    A short pop-up exhibition for Devadeep Gupta, presented by Prameya Art Foundation with the support of Alserkal Avenue and India Art Fair. The artist’s practice investigates the overlapping histories of colonial extraction, ecological destruction, and indigenous resilience in Margherita, Assam [ ... ]

    Free
  • Lala Rukh II: The importance of staying quiet

    Grey Noise Unit 24 Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    The first part of this series, Lala Rukh I, presented a selection of photographs from the artist’s archives during her years at the University of Chicago (1974-76). Its speculative framework helped us to stage the evolution of Lala’s photographic sensibility, [ ... ]

    Free
  • Searching for Love

    Al Dana Grand Ballroom Oceanic Khorfakkan ResortK, Corniche Road, horfakkan, Sharjah

    A lyrical duet that weaves together music and poetry, Searching for Love transports audiences to the streets of Cairo to examine themes of love, alienation and longing. Director and writer Nanda Mohammad joins composer and violinist Mohamed Sami to offer [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Improv’ Comedy Show

    Social Distrikt The Pointe, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai

    Well, you can't accuse Duboimedy of trying to fool us ... this is indeed a Sunday afternoon of comic improv, largely based on audience suggestions. It's free, but there is a minimum spend of one drink or one food item [ ... ]

    Free
  • Bassem Youssef Live

    Coca-Cola Arena City Walk, Dubai

    The top Egyptian American comedian and satirist returns to Dubai for a one-off show at Coca-Cola Arena with his characteristic blend of satire and storytelling “as he weaves his journey of cultural identity, resilience, and the absurdities of politics and [ ... ]

    From AED180
  • LAST CHANCE Thomas Dillon: The Raw and the Cooked

    Opera Gallery DIFC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    This is Dillon's first solo exhibition in Dubai; and it is claimed to be a milestone in the artist’s career, featuring a body of work conceived and created specifically for this show. In Claude Lévi-Strauss’s influential text of the same [ ... ]

    Free
  • Besher Koushaji: Moments of Hope

    Firetti Contemporary Unit 29, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    Koushaji’s exhibitions continues his exploration of memory, resilience, and the human condition with a new body of work that “reflects on a world shaped by displacement, conflict, and uncertainty, yet illuminated by fleeting moments of beauty and strength”. His distinctive [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Majda Abdulshakour and Noura Ali-Ramahi: All is Here

    La Galerie, Alliance Française Dubai Alliance Française Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke’s reflection that “It is here that we must love. All is here,” this exhibition of painting and sculpture invites viewers to rediscover paradise not as a distant place, but as something that exists within our [ ... ]

  • Al Burda Exhibition: The Shape of Meaning

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    As a complement to the Nja Mahdaoui retrospective in the main gallery at BFAF, this exhibition presents loans from the Ministry of Culture’s Al Burda exhibitions from 2008 to 2023. Al Burda was an annual exhibition where contemporary artists engaged [ ... ]

    Free
  • The Comedy Lab @ Easy Tiger

    Al Ain Palace Hotel Corniche Road, Abu Dhabi

    MadCat’s standup team comes to the Easy Tiger bar in Abu Dhabi's Al Ain Palace. The door price of AED 99 includes two drinks ...

    AED 99
  • Abu Dhabi Art

    Manarat al Saadiyat Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    The 16th edition of Abu Dhabi Art will take place from 19 to 23 November, as usual at Manarat al Saadiyat. The fair element has more than 140 galleries from 37 countries, by far the largest number to date – [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Voices of Two Worlds: Emirati & French in Harmony

    Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi Reem Island, Abu Dhabi

    Emirati opera singer Fatima Alhashmi – known for her unique interpretations of French opera infused with Arabic lyrics – is joined for this concert by French pianist Marie Sontag (who has described crossing paths with Alhashmi as "a moment of [ ... ]

    AED 50
  • Rigoletto

    Zabeel Theatre Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, Palm Jumeirah West Crescent, Dubai

    This is St Petersburg Opera's signature production of one of opera’s greatest works, reimagined with striking originality by the celebrated Russian director Yuri Alexandrov. Rigoletto remains one of Verdi’s most enduring masterpieces: a story of love, betrayal, and revenge told through [ ... ]

    From AED350
  • NOMAD Abu Dhabi

    Terminal 1, Zayed International Airport Abu Dhabi

    A boutique alternative to the conventional art fair, NOMAD is a peripatetic showcase for collectible design and contemporary art that pops up in “extraordinary architectural settings”. Its next iteration is NOMAD Abu Dhabi, to be held in the decommissioned Terminal [ ... ]

    Free by invitation
  • Whispers of Play

    Volery Gallery Maze Tower - 5201, Dubai International Financial Center, Dubai

    A group show for three young Japanese artists that celebrates the playful sensibility at the heart of contemporary Japanese expression – "a sensibility that transforms familiarity into wonder, nostalgia into dream" as the gallery has it. These artists have used [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Gail Spaien: Arranging Flowers

    Taymour Grahne Projects Warehouse 31A, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    The inaugural show of Taymour Grahne's new project space in Dubai features the Maine-based painter, the recipient of numerous fellowships amd now (after 30 years as faculty at the Maine College of Art and Design) a full time artist. Her [ ... ]

    Free
  • Hussain Jamil: Refracted Life

    Oblong Contemporary Art Gallery Al Khayat Art Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai

    In this exhibition, Jamil presents a new body of work that explores how we see ourselves — and how we are seen — in an ever-changing world. Working with hand-formed polished steel wall sculptures, woven metal mesh, and mirrored sculptural [ ... ]

    Free
  • POSTPONED Cindy Bernhard: When the Eternal Breaks Through

    Volery Gallery Maze Tower - 5201, Dubai International Financial Center, Dubai

    In the new body of work in this solo show, Bernhard continues her exploration of surface as revelation "where paint radiates, refracts, and breathes ... Each canvas becomes a threshold between the sacred and the screen, where baroque intensity meets [ ... ]

    Free
  • Cirque Du Liban: Fontana

    Circus Tent, Marina Mall Abu Dhabi

    The second weekend for Cirque du Liban's acrobatics-plus-aquatics show, "the first travelling water circus in the Middle East ... live entertainment, breathtaking artistic performances in a tailor-made aqua theatre, waterfalls cascading, artists diving and performing mind-blowing Aquatic experience". There are [ ... ]

    From AED 100
  • Art Thinking: The Intricacies of Corporate and Brand Patronage

    Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi Reem Island, Abu Dhabi

    What do Louis Vuitton, Marina Abramović and BMW have in common? According to cultural strategist Vadim Grigoryan in his newly published book, Art Thinking: Art, Meaning and Brand Leadership, they are all players in the evolving relationship between the art [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Dubai Singers & Orchestra: Music of the Isles

    New Covent Garden Theatre Mall of the Emirates, Dubai

    This concert celebrating “the best of the choral and orchestral works of the British Isles” features some 60 voices and a 30-piece orchestra conducted by musical director Howard Wong. “The best” is a grand claim, but certainly the programme features [ ... ]

    tbc
  • The Fridge Open Mic

    The Fridge Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    An open mic gig for local musicians; each act gets to perform one song. The Fridge's performance space is well equipped – you can use their drum kit, electric keyboard, amps for guitar and bass, and mics. And you can [ ... ]

    Free
  • Rigoletto

    Zabeel Theatre Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, Palm Jumeirah West Crescent, Dubai

    A second performance for this lavish staging by St Petersburg Opera of Verdi’s most enduring masterpiece – a story of love, betrayal, and revenge told through some of the most celebrated music in the operatic repertoire. As with most shows [ ... ]

    From AED350
  • LAST CHANCE Amina Illuminati

    Rarares Galllery Zone C, Gate Avenue, DIFC, Dubai

    Says the gallery: “In an era of visual noise and the relentless pace of modern life, Amina Illuminati offers a moment of stillness — a space where matter becomes light, and form becomes revelation”. It’s a group show for work [ ... ]

    Free
  • Tanweer Festival

    Tanweer Festival Site Mleiha Desert, Sharjah

    The second edition of the Tanweer Festival, again located in the Mleiha Desert near the archaeological centre, is themed ‘What you Seek Is Seeking You’ and promises “an immersive journey of culture and heritage, with music, art, and nature woven [ ... ]

    From AED 400
  • Dubai Open Art

    Andakulova Gallery Unit 18, P4 Level Damac Park Towers, DIFC , Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    A short-run exhibition presented by Art Number 23, the global collective of artists and creatives that has curated numerous exhibitions featuring the work of thousands of artists. Judging by the list of artists involved, this is a massive show ... [ ... ]

    Free
  • Xala: dir Ousmane Sembène (1975)

    Efiɛ Gallery 2 Al Khayat Art Avenue, First Al Khail Street, Dubai

    This Senegalese satirical comedy, written and directed by Ousmane Sembène as an adaptation of his own novel, finds a corrupt government official cursed with crippling erectile dysfunction upon the day of his marriage. He comes to realise it's connecting with [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Eureka Day

    The Junction Unit H72, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Eureka Day Elementary School is an institution that prides itself on ensuring every voice is heard, and every child is welcome — that is, until an outbreak of mumps forces people in the community to reconsider the school’s liberal vaccine [ ... ]

    AED 120
  • Björn Again

    Dubai Opera

    If you can't have the original, the greatest hits provided by their best tribute band will do nicely. Created and founded in 1988 in Melbourne, Björn Again has clocked up 5,000 performances in 72 countries over 31 years; it's a [ ... ]

    From AED 290
  • Politically Incorrect Comedy

    Xandros Singature 1 Hotel, Barsha Heights, Dubai

    MadCat Comedy returns to Xandros in Signature 1 Hotel, TECOM. The cover charge of AED 80 includes one drink.

    AED 80
  • Luis Guenel Soto and Ebana Garin Coronel: Minga of a House in Ruins

    Al Qasimiyah School Sheikh Saqr Bin Khalid Al Qasimi St, Sharjah

    This performance, part of the Perform Sharjah performance programme,  centres around the Chilean tradition of ‘minga’ – the communal act of moving an entire house, seen as a gesture of collective labour and shared resilience. Through three interwoven stories, Minga [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Down to Earth 2025

    Jameel Arts Centre Al Jaddaf, Dubai

    The Jameel’s annual festival for eco-consciousness and sustainability is back for its sixth edition in the Arts Centre and across the Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park. Expect activities for all ages themed around botanical, sustainable and eco-conscious living with hands-on workshops [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • HoW November Book Club: The Odyssey

    House of WIsdom Al Juraina 1, Sharjah

    The House of Wisdom in Sharjah is running a new season of its Book Club under the theme 'Home', with three very relevant titles – House of Stone by war correspondent Anthony Shadid, Near to the Wild Heart by Brazilian [ ... ]

    AED 75